Recipe: Aska’s Grounding Pumpkin Soup with Coconut & Ginger
This delicious recipe was created by Aska for our 2021 BLOOM retreat, she has transcribed it with love to share with all of you, you can read more about her below the recipe!
With pumpkins in their plenty this is a wonderful way to nourish and ground on those cooler days as we enter into the summer time. Take it away Aska!
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A nourishing, wholesome soup to soothe your soul and ground your energy. To me, cooking is an intuitive process of co-creation with the ever-changing needs of my body…not another set of rules to follow. May this recipe assist you in tuning deeper into the wisdom of your own beautiful body.
In Ayurvedic terms, this soup is balancing for both Pitta and Vata. The sweet taste of the pumpkin, combined with the heating ginger and cooling coconut will temper your inner fire and soothe your inner winds. If you have a high Kapha constitution, you may prefer to add more spices to this soup, such as cayenne pepper.
RECIPE NOTES:
Serves 3-4
Veggie broth will keep the recipe plant-based
Kent/Jap or QLD blue pumpkins are my favourites to use
You will need a blender for this recipe – a stick blender is easiest, but you can also let the soup cool and combine it in a jug blender.
Ingredients
1 Kg of Pumpkin
500-600ml ml broth of your choice
20-40 grams ginger (1-3 thumbs worth)
1 tsp cumin
250 ml coconut milk
½ tsp cinnamon
½ -1-2 tsp salt, as you prefer
2 tbsp olive/coconut oil for roasting the pumpkin.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Optional:
for a smoother soup; peel your pumpkin first.
you can hide a handful of greens in this soup without affecting the flavour.
Method
Preheat your oven to 180°C and line a large tray with baking paper. Wash your pumpkin and slice it into chunks/slices. It doesn't have to be aesthetic, just roughly the same size so that it cooks evenly. Melt your coconut oil in the pot, if using that.
In a bowl, drizzle your oil onto the pumpkin and coat it with your hands. This is your chance to put heart energy into the food using your hands, if you like.
Pop the pumpkin in the oven and cook it for about 45 minutes - until it gets all gooey inside and caramelly on the edges. While it roasts, prepare your stock and have it nearby for the next part.
Now to supercharge the spices. Get your soup pot, and on low heat, heat up some oil (1 tbsp-3tbsp, whatever you feel). Once the pan and oil is warm, activate the cumin, cinnamon and ginger by stirring them into the oil. It takes about 30 seconds for them to activate; they will start releasing aromas. Take them off the heat or add the stock as soon as they do this so they don't burn. If they burn just do this step again; takes a bit of practice but they taste much better activated.
Add the stock, pop in your pumpkin, stir it all around. Break it up a bit with a utensil of your choosing. Cook for a few more minutes, whispering sweet nothings into your soup – stirring in the love from your heart, through your hands. Then take the soup off the heat and add the coconut milk.
Tilt the pot & combine with a stick blender – cover the top of the pot with a towel if it starts splashing everywhere during this process.
Taste and adjust any of the ingredients as needed. Does your body want it creamier? Add more coconut milk. Spicier? Add more ginger. Saltier? Add more salt. Like it thick? Leave it as is. Like it waterier? Add more water. It's your soup.
Aska Says: Please play around within this framework, your body and intuition will know what she wants more than any external cookbook.
A bit about the author:
Aska has cultivated a calming presence and soothing manner of holding space, with a deep passion for guiding others inwards to access their innate individual ability to self-heal.
Gracefully & intuitively blending her skills as a synthesis movement therapist, somatic release facilitator and breathwork practitioner - Aska works effortlessly to reconnect her clients with their true selves. “All of you is welcome here” is her personal motto.
She is excited to also bring you her wonderful skills in the realm of health and whole foods in this recipe. During BLOOM 2021 she joyfully crafted and created a healthy and delicious wholefoods menu to ground and awaken the senses.
Feeling inspired? Let me know if you make this! Send a picture of your delicious pumpkin soup or tag myself and Aska on instagram with your creation @_annie_Johns_ & @askaska.light to go in to the draw to win a free private lesson 💖
